Kids get needed checkups at Winnebago County health clinic

More than 100 students turned out for immunizations, physicals and other exams today as part of the Winnebago County Health Department’s fifth annual Back-to-School Health Clinic.

Classes already started this week for some school districts, and students need to meet certain health screening requirements to either begin or remain in school. Rockford School District, for instance, excludes students from the first day of class Aug. 25 if they haven’t met such requirements.

Physicals and immunizations must be completed by Oct. 15 for other districts, and some screenings have a spring deadline.

Wednesday’s clinic ran for about five hours and was starting to get busy shortly after its 2 p.m. start. Children and parents were ushered between the second and fourth floors for their various appointments.

Julio Cardenas, 14, winced while getting an immunization, and in another room, staff praised 5-year-old Nicolas Rodriguez for being calm while he had his blood drawn for a lead screening.

Morrisa Schwartz, a dentist with Orland Park Dental, said dental needs tend to get overshadowed by other back-to-school priorities, but good oral health is important for children.

“We make sure parents remember that baby teeth are important,” Schwartz said. “So many millions of hours are lost due to children with dental decay. It’s hard to learn if your teeth hurt. It’s hard to talk properly if you’re missing teeth that you should have. It’s hard to feel confident about yourself if you have a tooth that probably doesn’t look right or you’re missing teeth that you shouldn’t be missing.

“If (parents) can set their children up to have good dental habits now, that’s going to help them when you’re older even fight some diseases you don’t associate with teeth.”

Drs. Carole Eatock and Leslie Dean were on hand to administer back-to-school physicals, which are opportunities to observe the physical and mental health of children. They emphasized the importance of vaccines and talking to kids about why their health is important.

“We only really get a child maybe three times for their mandatory health screenings at kindergarten, sixth grade and ninth grades,” Dean said. “At those times, there are very different developmental stages, and it’s important to go over things that are age-appropriate. Not just the physical, but the mental health, the social awkwardness that may exist, how they’re doing in school.

“It’s a very public health approach to trying to take care of our community across the years, especially our kids.”

Melissa Westphal: 815-987-1341; mwestphal@rrstar.com; @mlwestphal

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